Engagement 

Our Global Climate Policy Standards clarify how our policy positions on climate change should be reflected in our own advocacy and the advocacy of the associations we belong to. Over the past five years, we have introduced a range of measures to strengthen governance of our membership of industry associations and monitor their climate change advocacy. More information on our approach to industry associations is available at Industry associations. We also engage on policy matters directly with government and through our membership of industry associations and issue-specific coalitions and initiatives. Examples of these engagements can be found in the ‘sustainability links and downloads’ section below.

The Board uses a range of formal and informal communication channels to seek to understand and take into account the views of shareholders. Feedback and commentary related to climate change are increasingly a part of our routine investor engagements, including results roadshows with the CEO and CFO, and the Chair’s investor engagement meetings. A summary of this feedback is provided to the Board. 

Our CEO, CFO, senior management and the Investor Relations team hold virtual meetings and roundtables with investors worldwide. Topics covered include corporate governance and ESG matters, steel decarbonisation technologies, strategy, finance and operating performance.  

Equitable change and transitions 

There are communities around the world that rely on mining certain commodities that may therefore be disproportionately impacted by the transition to a low-carbon economy. Solutions will require a multi-stakeholder approach including the local community, investors, financiers, government at all levels and, of course, resource companies such as BHP.  

Our approach to equitable change and transition takes into account the Paris Agreement and the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO’s) Just Transition Guidelines and recognises the role of BHP through changes and transitions. The approach to equitable change and transition will inform implementation of our strategy for decarbonisation and adaptation to the potential physical impacts of climate change, as well as apply to the intended closure of NSWEC. 

See our Sustainability approach for more information.  

Disclosures and reporting 

BHP was one of the first companies to align its climate-related disclosures with the recommendations of the Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), of which our Vice President Sustainability and Climate Change, Dr Fiona Wild, has been a member since its inception in late 2015.

We published our Climate Change Report in 2020, and also participate in the CA100+ Net Zero Carbon Benchmark (NZCB), which assesses the world's largest corporate GHG emitters on their progress in the transition to the net zero future. Our TCFD-aligned disclosures and information in support of our NZCB assessment can be found in our Annual Reports. 

In September 2021, we published the Climate Transition Action Plan (CTAP), which sets out the steps BHP intends to take to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to net zero within our own operations and to pursue net zero in our value chain. The CTAP received approval from 84.9 per cent of shareholders in the ‘Say on Climate’ advisory vote at our AGMs in 2021. 

Our most recent climate change reporting can be found in the ‘sustainability links and downloads’ section below.